Program Manager, Ohio

Overview

The Program Manager will work to advance the programmatic and strategic growth of ACE through implementing ACE’s 501(c)(3) distributed organizing and campaign work in Ohio, across the organization’s primary issue areas of climate education and storytelling, stopping fossil fuel expansion, and ushering in a new era of renewable energy.

The scope of responsibilities will include, but is not limited to: building, activating, and managing state-based Action Teams; implementing national and state-based campaigns through state-based Action Teams; managing data and digital tools; partnership and coalition management in the state, managing in-state communications (e.g. text, email, and other modes) with the Action Team Network and state-based Action Teams, creating state-based campaign and action collateral, and potentially managing 20 state-based Action Teams doing education, climate advocacy and/or civic engagement work.

In this position, the Program Manager will work to strengthen ACE’s role and impact in advocating for an end to the era of fossil fuels, a swift and equitable transition to renewable energy, and an increase in diverse youth participation in our democracy.

This is a full-time, remote position based locally in Cleveland, Ohio. Candidates must be based in Cleveland, though will work from a home office and will participate in in-person events as safety allows.  The Program Manager will work from home, meet regularly by video chat with ACE team members, partners, and youth, and conduct the majority of activities both online and in-person, when safe. The Program Manager must be available for regular travel within the United States, to participate in fieldwork, conferences, actions, organizing, events, and to attend staff retreats as COVID-19 safety guidance allows.

Essential Functions

• Conduct field-based, digital organizing and campaign work to increase diverse youth participation in our democracy, and advocate for stopping fossil fuel expansion and pro-renewable agendas. This may include, but is not limited to:
  • Recruiting, engaging, and coaching state-based Action Teams
  • Implementing campaigns via state-based Action Teams
  • Creating campaign toolkits for Action Teams and their members state-wide, or locally
  • Administering distributed organizing tools and technologies
  • Doing in-person and digital campaign events, mass launch calls, frequent live training, and onboarding events, and other live events as needed.
• Use in-list (e.g. text, email) communications to identify and recruit young people to start or join ACE Action Teams to participate in campaigns, climate advocacy, and civic engagement work.
• Manage 15-20+ state-based ACE Action Teams participating in climate advocacy and civic engagement work.
• Collaborate closely with any other in-state staff (e.g. Civic Engagement Manager) on engagement strategy, as well as the Distributed Organizing Director, Civic Engagement Director, Campaign Director, Campaign Managers, and Digital Strategy Directors to thoughtfully execute winning civic engagement and climate advocacy campaigns locally in the state.
• Work closely in collaboration with partners and coalitions to coordinate local and state-based campaigns, and become the expert in state-based organizing and advocacy issues as they relate to youth, climate, democracy, energy, education, and other similar issue areas.
• Manage our SMS opt-in pathways, keywords, and tracking processes to measure the success of campaigns and campaign actions.
• Create platform-specific content and copy for weekly campaign actions to engage state-based Action Teams and the broader Action Team Network members in the state.
• Support the design and testing, when applicable, of the new distributed components of ACE’s youth organizing program.
• Regularly participate in the design, implementation, and evaluation of field experiments, and campaigns, to measure the efficacy of ACE’s year-round campaign work.
• Manage and ensure the use of ACE’s learning and community management systems, activist communication platforms, peer-to-peer engagement platforms, and other apps as needed.

This description reflects ACE’s assignment of essential functions, it does not restrict the tasks that may be assigned. ACE retains the right to change or assign other duties to this position at any time.

Key Working Relationships

• ACE staff
• National and regional partners
• Community members and leaders
• Communications and website vendors
• ACE Action Team Network members and Action Teams
• Manage influencer marketing and communications vendors when applicable.

Key Responsibilities

• Action Team recruitment, management, and coaching: Directly recruit and manage 15-20+ state-based Action Teams, including all aspects of recruitment, on-boarding, training, engagement, advocacy, civic engagement, and legislative action.
• Campaign strategy and implementation: Stay tuned in to local and state-based work of Action Teams to inform strategy, and help co-create and implement state-based climate education, civic engagement, and climate advocacy campaigns to advance the organization’s mission, and engage potentially tens of thousands of young people in our campaign work.
• Field-based Campaign Work: Regularly conduct campaign work in the field, both in-person (when safe) and digitally, and mentor Action Teams, Action Team Network members, and other campaign staff and partners to take action via various campaigns.
• Digital engagement and outreach: Manage the state-based communications to the Action Team Network and Action Teams, including working with any other in-state staff (e.g. civic engagement managers). Write and send emails, text messages, and other communications, and manage digital tools and technologies, to engage youth activists in the ACE Action Team Network, and ACE Action Team members under the management of the Campaign Managers, Civic Engagement Managers, and Program Managers in key states.
• Content Development: Conduct background research and create content for state-based campaign pages, toolkits, social media, websites, and other campaign collateral. Support development of video content, social media campaigns, live events, and other relevant content creation as needed.
• Live events and training: Routinely conduct mass onboarding calls, training, etc. for campaigns, launch events, and other needs as they arise.
• Stay updated: Keep on top of local policies, events, coalitions, campaigns, trends, and related hashtags within the short-form video ecosystems like TikTok, Reels, or Triller.
• Legislative Advocacy: Regularly participate in the education of leaders on related issue areas, policies, and ways to take action. This may include meeting with elected leaders to discuss relevant policies, events, or opportunities to take leadership, supporting Action Team Network members or ACE Action Team members to do the same, or participating in coordinated advocacy in coalition with partners.

Qualifications
Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience
• A minimum of 3-4 years experience in field organizing, distributed organizing, advocacy work, youth engagement or youth development, project management, preferably with a climate or other social justice focus
• Experience leading campaign work for related social justice causes
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to set priorities, complete work with minimal supervision, and meet deadlines.
• Proven track record of time and project management.
• Self-starter with strong organizational skills and creativity
• Existing expertise or willingness to master trends in climate education, youth development, youth organizing, and the climate movement.
• Awareness of the issues of concern to young people, including climate change and climate justice, and a passion for empowering youth to take action
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to cultivate and manage partnerships, internal and external. Excellent communicator, reliable and clear.

Desired Qualifications

• Demonstrated competence in supervising a team and managing projects
• Ability to train and coach youth
• Spanish language is a plus

Employees must be able to perform the essential functions of the position satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations will be made to enable employees with disabilities to perform the essential functions of their job, absent undue hardship.

Position Details

Application Deadline: September 15, 2021
Schedule: Full-time
Annual salary range: $ 49,100-$65,800 commensurate with experience
Generous benefits including: Medical, Dental, Vision, 403b retirement savings plan, Vacation, 2 Floating Holidays, 2 Community Service Floating Holidays, Sick time, and 12 observed holidays
ACE is an equal opportunity employer that highly values staff diversity
Location: Remote, local to Cleveland, Ohio

Application Guidelines
Please apply by emailing a cover letter, resume, non-academic writing sample (max 1 page), and 2-3 examples of social media content to careers@acespace.org, with “Program Manager, Cleveland” in the subject line.  All your information will be kept confidential according to EEOC guidelines.

ACE is an equal opportunity employer that highly values diversity, equity, and inclusion and views the climate crisis as a social justice crisis. People who identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), people who experience gender oppression, people with disabilities, and people who identify as members of the LGBTQIA+ community are particularly encouraged to apply.

Tagged as: advocacy, campaign, climate change, democracy, leadership, remote, youth